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STOCK MARKET NEWS: Fed hike rates, FedEx layoffs, Tom Brady’s next act

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 0.25 basis points yet signaled inflation remains a wildcard, Meta profits plunge, NFL’s Tom Brady makes his next career move. FOX Business is providing real-time updates on the markets, commodities and all the most active stocks on the move.

34Posts
04:39 PM, February 01, 2023

Treasury targets global sanctions evasion network supporting Russia’s military-industrial complex

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed full blocking sanctions against 22 individuals and entities across multiple countries related to a sanctions evasion network supporting Russia’s military-industrial complex.

The action is part of the U.S. strategy to methodically and intensively target sanctions evasion efforts around the globe, close down key backfilling channels, expose facilitators and enablers, and limit Russia’s access to revenue needed to wage its brutal war in Ukraine.

Over the last year, Treasury has sanctioned over 100 individuals and entities engaging in activity to circumvent international sanctions and export controls imposed on Russia.

“Russia’s desperate attempts to utilize proxies to circumvent U.S. sanctions demonstrate that sanctions have made it much harder and costlier for Russia’s military-industrial complex to re-supply Putin’s war machine,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo. “Targeting proxies is one of many steps that Treasury and our coalition of partners have taken, and continue to take, to tighten sanctions enforcement against Russia’s defense sector, its benefactors, and its supporters.”

Posted by Reuters
04:27 PM, February 01, 2023

EV maker Rivian to cut 6% of jobs amid price war — internal memo

SymbolPriceChange%Change
RIVN$19.990.593.04

Rivian Automotive is laying off 6% of its workforce in an effort to cut costs as the EV maker, already grappling with falling cash reserves and a weak economy, braces for an industry-wide price war.

The company is focusing resources on ramping up vehicle production and reaching profitability, Chief Executive R.J. Scaringe said in an email to employees on Wednesday announcing the job cuts. Reuters obtained a copy of the email.

Layoffs at Rivian come amid falling EV prices kicked off by cuts made recently by Elon Musk-led Tesla and Ford Motor Co.

The price cuts by Tesla and Ford are expected to hurt EV upstarts such as Rivian, Lucid Group and British startup Arrival, which Monday said it would lay off half its staff.

A Rivian spokesman confirmed the email was sent, but declined further comment.

Posted by Reuters
04:25 PM, February 01, 2023

Medical device maker Align Technology tops Wall Street estimates

Align Technology Inc.
$
282.53

SymbolPriceChange%Change
ALGN$282.5312.804.75

Align Technology is higher in extended trading. The medical device company topped Wall Street revenue and profit estimates.

Fourth quarter revenue fell 12.6% to $901.5 million. The estimate was $892.8 million.

Net income fell 78.1% to $134.2 million.

Diluted earning per share was $1.73, topping the estimate of $1.56.For full year 2023, assuming no additional material disruptions or circumstances beyond its control, the company anticipates 2023 GAAP operating margin to be slightly above 16% and expects 2023 non-GAAP operating margin to be slightly above 20%.

Posted by FOX Business Team
04:09 PM, February 01, 2023

Meta reports 55% drop in quarterly profit

Symbol PriceChange%Change
META$153.204.232.84

Meta Platforms Inc on Wednesday forecast first-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates, signaling a rebound in demand for digital ads after months of weak sales.

The parent of Instagram and Facebook forecast revenue between $26 billion and $28.5 billion, compared with analysts' average estimates of $27.14 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Meta shares, which lost almost two-thirds of their value in 2022, were up about 10% in extended trading.

The digital ad giant faced a brutal 2022 as companies cut back on marketing spend due to economic worries, while rivals like TikTok captured younger users and Apple's privacy updates continued to challenge the business of placing targeted ads.

Meta's forecast is an indication that the ad market may be recovering as companies increase their marketing budgets, after a long pause due to macroeconomic uncertainties.

Net income for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, however, fell to $4.65 billion, or $1.76 per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with $10.29 billion, or $3.67 per share, a year earlier, largely due to a $4.2 billion charge related to cost-cutting moves such as layoffs.

Posted by Reuters
Breaking News04:00 PM, February 01, 2023

Stocks see-saw after Fed hike

U.S. stocks flip flopped between losses and gains following the 0.25 basis point rate hike by the Federal Reserve and a signal that more increases are ahead. The Nasdaq Composite rose 2%, the S&P 500 over 1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed. In commodities, oil fell over 3% to $76.41 per barrel. 

Nasdaq Composite Index.
$
11814.560223

Posted by FOX Business Team
03:57 PM, February 01, 2023

GoodRx pays $1.5M to settle health privacy allegations

Goodrx Holdings Inc.
$
5.89

SymbolPriceChange%Change
GDRX$5.880.295.28

U.S. healthcare firm GoodRx Holdings has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle allegations that it failed to notify customers that it shared personal health information with Alphabet's Google, Meta's Facebook and others, the Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday.

Under the terms of the settlement, GoodRx will be barred from sharing user health data with other companies to use for advertising.

GoodRx, which had more than 55 million people use its website or app in the past six years, is a platform that offers drug discounts while collecting health information from users and their pharmacy benefit managers.

GoodRx promised users it would never share health information with advertisers but gave information to Google, Facebook, Criteo and others, the agency said in their complaint.

GoodRx said in a statement the issue in the settlement was resolved three years ago before the agency began its probe.

"We do not agree with the FTC’s allegations and we admit no wrongdoing. Entering into the settlement allows us to avoid the time and expense of protracted litigation," the company said in a statement.

Posted by Reuters
03:15 PM, February 01, 2023

Powell: Not a typical business cycle

Fed chair Jerome Powell says the path of inflation is harder to predict this business cycle than in the past.

“We expected goods inflation to come down by the end of 2021. Now it’s coming down pretty fast,” Powell said.

The chair added the central bank will adjust its statement if central bankers see inflation coming down more quickly.

“Our job is to deliver inflation back to target,” Powell said. “It’s the early stages of disinflation. It’s just going to take some time.”

Powell said economists expect to see slower growth, some softening of labor market and inflation slowly coming down this year. Under those conditions, it will not be appropriate to cut rates this year, Powell said.

He said he’s encouraged that the markets and public now believe that inflation is coming down.

“That’s a very positive thing,” he said.

Posted by FOX Business Team
Breaking News03:14 PM, February 01, 2023

Benchmarks rally late after Fed decision

The major U.S. indices are higher after the Federal Reserve announced they would raise its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a point.

After starting the day in the red, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is now up roughly 111 points, or 0.33%, the S&P 500 is up roughly 1.28%, while the tech heavy Nasdaq leads the rally with a 2.24% pop into positive territory as tech stocks recover from earlier losses.

Shares of Meta, Apple, Amazon and Google are all now trading well into the green, after struggling pre-market and for the first half of the session.

Meanwhile, commodities are mixing as West Texas Intermediate slips roughly 2.55% to $76.86 a barrel and gold moves roughly 0.69% higher to $1,958.80 an ounce. 

Posted by FOX Business Team
03:05 PM, February 01, 2023

Powell: Disinflation process has started

“We can now say for the first time that the disinflationary process has started," Fed chair Jerome Powell said.

Powell said the Fed expects to soon see disinflation in core services, excluding housing.“We don’t see inflation moving down yet in that sector,” Powell said. “We have to complete the job. That’s what we’re here for.”

The Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures price index, excluding food and energy, came in at 4.4% in December.

Powell believes in a soft landing.

“My best case is that the economy can return to 2% inflation without a really significant downtown,” the chair said. He noted other economists may disagree, but “there’s a chance of it.”

Powell expects economic growth this year. He says states are flush with cash.“There’s a lot of spending coming in the pipeline both public and private.

Posted by FOX Business Team
02:58 PM, February 01, 2023

Powell: Fed cannot protect the economy if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Congress should raise the debt ceiling so the U.S. can pay its debts when due.

He called it the "only way forward."

“No one should assume the Fed can protect the economy," Powell said.

The U.S. hit its debt limit on last month, forcing the Treasury Department to begin deploying a series of emergency moves so that the government can continue to pay its bills and endangering the already fragile U.S. economy. 

The debt ceiling, which is currently around $31.4 trillion, is the legal limit on the total amount of debt that the federal government can borrow on behalf of the public, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries and tax refunds.

Additional reporting by Megan Henney.

Posted by FOX Business Team
02:48 PM, February 01, 2023

Powell: Ongoing hikes will be appropriate

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank’s focus is not on the short-term and that interest rate decisions will be made on a meeting-by-meeting basis.

The Fed will update its assessments at its March meeting. Powell said central bankers will be looking at the economic data ahead of its March and May meeting.

“We’ll make data-dependent decisions,” Powell said.

“We think we’ve covered a lot of ground,” Powell said. “It is gratifying to see the disinflationary process getting underway.”

The chair said in the housing services sector, the Fed expects inflation to be moving up for a while before moving lower.

As for the labor market, “So far what we see is progress without any weakening in labor market conditions,” Powell said. “We do see wages going down. Quits are still at an elevated level. By many measures, the job market is still strong.”

“It will be premature to declare victory, Powell added.

Posted by FOX Business Team
02:36 PM, February 01, 2023

Powell: Restoring price stability will require restrictive policy for some time

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says the Fed is strongly committed to bring inflation down to its 2%.“We have more work to do,” Powell said.

Powell says restoring price stability will require a restrictive policy for some time. He added the central bank needs more evidence that inflation is on a long-term downward path.

The central bank reaffirmed its consensus statement after raising the fed funds rate to 4.5%-4.75%, its highest level in about 15 years.

The bank’s rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate in order to attain a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2% over time.

In determining the extent of future increases in the target range, the Committee will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments.

In addition, the Committee will continue reducing its holdings of Treasury securities and agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities, as described in its previously announced plans.

Posted by FOX Business Team
02:18 PM, February 01, 2023

Peloton forecasts third-quarter revenue above expectations

SymbolPriceChange%Change
PTON$15.232.3017.80

Peloton Interactive Inc on Wednesday forecast current-quarter revenue above expectations, in an early sign that its efforts to boost sales, including by selling on third-party platforms, were beginning to yield fruit.

Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy, in a letter to investors, outlined goals of returning to revenue growth and reach cash flow breakeven on a sustained basis in his second year in the role.

For the third quarter, Peloton forecast revenue between $690 million and $715 million, above expectations of $689.1 million, as per Refinitiv data.

The company kept its goal of break-even free cash flow by the end of fiscal 2023, a key milestone being watched by investors.

However, Peloton said challenging economic conditions were impacting consumer spending patterns and that near-term demand for connected fitness hardware is likely to remain challenged.

Meanwhile, the company's net loss narrowed to 98 cents per share in the second quarter, but it was bigger than expectations of a loss of 64 cents.

Posted by Reuters
12:18 PM, February 01, 2023

FedEx to cut officer and director team as part larger staff reduction

SymbolPriceChange%Change
FDX$198.024.162.15

FedEx Corp on Wednesday said it would cut its officer and director team by 10% as part of a broad cost-reduction effort that has reduced staffing at the delivery giant by 12,000 workers since June.

FedEx, which has vowed to cut expenses by $3.7 billion this year, did not say how many positions would be affected by the new layoffs. Its overall workforce reductions account for a little over 2% of FedEx's 547,000 full-time and part-time workers reported for the year ended May 2022.

Most of the cuts came through attrition and other means, a spokeswoman said.

FedEx already has temporarily furloughed workers at its trucking division FedEx Freight as the pandemic-fueled e-commerce delivery bubble deflates and recession threatens, joining transportation-focused companies ranging from delivery upstart Amazon.com and trucking company C.H. Robinson Worldwide to freight broker Uber Freight and freight forwarding startup Flexport in announcing layoffs.

Posted by Reuters
11:57 AM, February 01, 2023

Electronic Arts cuts bookings view on 'Star Wars' game delay, spending slowdown

SymbolPriceChange%Change
EA$113.94-14.74-11.45

Electronic Arts Inc lowered its annual bookings forecast on Tuesday, as the videogame publisher delayed the release of a title based on the "Star Wars" franchise and consumers dialed back spending in a sagging economy.

.After two years of pandemic-driven growth, the gaming market fell 4.3% in 2022, according to estimates from analytics firm NewZoo. Some of the drop was due to a lack of big new titles.

EA on Tuesday pushed out the launch of "Star Wars Jedi: Survivor" by six weeks to April 28, which would fall into its next fiscal year. The game is a sequel to its 2019 "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" title that has drawn over 20 million players.

The results, meanwhile, showed that recent launches were not doing enough to draw consumers, who are prioritizing essentials in the face of still-high inflation and rising interest rates.

The company, which in recent months released "Need for Speed Unbound" and the latest installment in its "FIFA" series, now expects annual bookings between $7.07 billion and $7.17 billion.

It had forecast $7.65 billion to $7.85 billion previously.

Its third-quarter adjusted sales and profit also came in below analysts' expectations, according to Refinitiv data.

Posted by Reuters
11:24 AM, February 01, 2023

Software intelligence platform Dynatrace tops Wall Street forecasts

Dynatrace Inc.
$
42.88

SymbolPriceChange%Change
DT$42.854.4211.50

Dynatrace Inc. on Wednesday reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $15 million.

The Waltham, Massachusetts-based company said it had net income of 5 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 25 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 22 cents per share.

The software intellegence company posted revenue of $297.5 million in the period, which also topped Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $285.2 million.

For the current quarter ending in March, Dynatrace expects its per-share earnings to range from 22 cents to 23 cents.The company said it expects revenue in the range of $304 million to $307 million for the fiscal fourth quarter.

Posted by Associated Press
10:50 AM, February 01, 2023

Trucking company Old Dominion tops Wall Street profit estimates, misses on revenue

SymbolPriceChange%Change
ODFL$356.9023.667.10

Old Dominion Freight Line Inc.
$
356.89

Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter earnings of $323.9 million.

On a per-share basis, the Thomasville, North Carolina-based company said it had net income of $2.92.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.68 per share.

The trucking company posted revenue of $1.49 billion in the period, which missed Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.51 billion.

Posted by Associated Press
10:29 AM, February 01, 2023

T-Mobile misses quarterly revenue estimates as competition bites

SymbolPriceChange%Change
TMUS$149.780.470.32

T-Mobile US Inc missed fourth-quarter revenue estimates on Wednesday despite adding thousands of wireless subscribers, as competitors ramped up their holiday season handset offers to lure customers.

The U.S. wireless carrier has been adding thousands of wireless subscribers lately, thanks to discounts on smartphones, bundled offerings, industry-low plan prices and an edge in 5G, owing to its $23 billion buyout of Sprint Corp. in 2020.

However, Verizon and AT&T ramped up their handset offers during the holiday season to tap into growing demand after the latest iPhone launch, hitting T-Mobile's torrid growth.

The carrier added 927,000 postpaid phone subscribers in the fourth quarter, the highest among its peers.

But its churn rate, which refers to the percentage of customers who stopped using the company's services, was also the highest compared to rivals, at 0.92%. By contrast, Verizon reported churn of 0.89% for monthly phone subscribers while AT&T's came in at 0.84%.

Moreover, industry executives have hinted at a cool-down in growth as demand for phones with video-conferencing and premium plans that supported remote work fades as offices reopen.

T-Mobile is also still growing its enterprise business to catch up with peers.

It expects to add between 5 million and 5.5 million net monthly-bill paying subscribers in 2023, compared with the 6.4 million additions it reported in 2022.

Adjusted profit after deducting lease revenues is expected to be between $28.7 billion and $29.2 billion in 2023, up 10% year over year at the mid-point, T-Mobile said.

Posted by Reuters
10:11 AM, February 01, 2023

Oil prices stable as OPEC+ sticks to policy ahead of Fed meeting

Oil prices remained relatively stable after OPEC and its allies stuck to their output policy while the market awaits a U.S. interest rate decision and data on U.S. crude and fuel stockpiles later on Wednesday.

Brent crude futures were down 14 cents, or 0.1%, at $85.33 a barrel by 1419 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) U.S. crude futures rose 13 cents, or 0.2%, to $79.00.

Ministers from the OPEC+ producer group comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia kept their output policy unchanged at a virtual meeting on Wednesday.

OPEC's oil output fell in January, as Iraqi exports dropped and Nigerian output did not recover, with the 10 OPEC members pumping 920,000 barrels per day (bpd) below OPEC+ targeted volumes, a Reuters survey found.

The shortfall was bigger than the 780,000 bpd deficit in December.

Posted by Reuters
10:09 AM, February 01, 2023

Vodafone endures more pain in Spain and Germany

SymbolPriceChange%Change
VOD$11.30-0.28-2.42

Vodafone reported a steeper-than expected slowdown in its third quarter, the first under interim boss Margherita Della Valle, after service revenue in Spain slumped and there was a further deterioration in Germany, its biggest market.

The mobile and broadband operator reported group service revenue growth of 1.8% in the third quarter, down from 2.5% in the second and missing market expectations.

Hyperinflation in Turkey helped that figure, Della Valle said. Without it, service revenue in Europe fell 1.1%.The quarter was expected to be a low point for Europe, she said, and there would be "a gradual improvement from now on."

“The telco’s third-quarter update reveals a further slowdown in organic revenue growth and although the company is sticking to its previously downgraded earnings and cashflow targets, the shares trade no higher now than they did in December 1997,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

Mould added the Vodafone may be “fighting on too many fronts in too many countries, especially when hemmed in by regulators on one side and competition on another.Reuters contributed to this report.

Posted by Reuters
05:16 AM, February 01, 2023

Futures trade lower ahead of Fed decision

U.S. equity futures traded lower on Wednesday ahead of a decision on interest rates from the Federal Reserve.

The major futures indexes suggest a decline of 0.4% when trading begins on Wall Street.

Oil prices rose on Wednesday as signs of slowing inflation eased U.S. recession fears.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures traded around $78.00 a barrel.

Brent crude futures traded around $85.00 a barrel.

The Federal Reserve is expected to slow its pace of interest rate increases again as its first meeting of the year concludes today with an afternoon announcement.

The U.S. central bank is widely expected to lift the federal funds rate by 25 basis points.

Other points of data that will be released include ADP's report on private hiring, S&P Global is out with its final manufacturing PMI for January, the ISM’s manufacturing purchasing managers index for December, the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey and construction spending.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo advanced less than 0.1%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 1% and China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.9%.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 advanced to 4,076.60 to end January with its third monthly gain in the past four months.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% to 34,086.04. The Nasdaq rose 1.7% to 11,584.55.

Posted by Ken Martin
05:07 AM, February 01, 2023

All eyes on the Fed

The Federal Reserve is expected to slow its pace of interest rate increases again as its first meeting of the year concludes today with an afternoon announcement.

The U.S. central bank is widely expected to lift the federal funds rate by 25 basis points.

Posted by Ken Martin
05:04 AM, February 01, 2023

Busy day of economic data ahead

Besides the Federal Reserve decision on interest rates, many more pieces of data are on tap.

Payroll processing firm ADP will release its National Employment report for January. Economists anticipate an increase of 178,000 private-sector jobs, down from a much higher than expected 235,000 new jobs added in November. That forecast is just slightly below the 185,000 nonfarm jobs that the Labor Department is expected to say the economy added in January on Friday morning. 

S&P Global is out with its final manufacturing PMI for January, which rose slightly to 46.8 in the flash reading two weeks ago, rebounding from the lowest since May 2020, but remained in contraction for a third consecutive month.  

The ISM’s manufacturing purchasing managers index for December will be released. It’s expected to slip for the fifth month in a row to 48.0, the lowest since May 2020 and the third month in contraction territory. Remember that a treading of 50 is the dividing line between an expanding and contracting manufacturing sector

Traders will also watch for the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. The Labor Department is expected to say that there were 10.25 million job openings available at the end of December. That’s down 208,000 from 10.458 million in November would be the lowest June 2021. 

Also, construction spending is expected to be unchanged in December, following a slight, surprise increase of 0.2% the previous month.

Posted by Ken Martin
04:59 AM, February 01, 2023

Snap shares fall as revenue stalls

Snap Inc shares are down 14% in premarket trading after reporting current quarter revenue could decline by as much as 10%, as the company struggles with weak advertising demand.

The owner of photo messaging app Snapchat is the first of the major digital advertising platforms to report fourth-quarter results.

It may provide an early clue for platforms like Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc and Alphabet's Google when they report results later this week.

In a letter to investors, Snap said a weakening economy, increased competition from other social media platforms and "platform policy changes" continued to hurt its business in the fourth quarter.

Revenue for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 was $1.3 billion, flat from the prior-year and in line with analyst expectations.

Snap's net loss was $288 million during the quarter, versus net income of $23 million the previous year. It reported adjusted earnings per share of 14 cents, beating Wall Street estimates of 11 cents.

Reuters contributed to this post.

Posted by Ken Martin
04:54 AM, February 01, 2023

Western Digital reports quarterly loss

Western Digital shares are down more than 4% in premarket trading after the company reported a loss of $446 million in its fiscal second quarter.

The San Jose, California-based company said it had a loss of $1.40 per share. Losses, adjusted for pretax expenses and stock option expense, were 42 cents per share.

The results missed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 8 cents per share.

The maker of hard drives for businesses and personal computers posted revenue of $3.11 billion in the period, which beat Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $3.01 billion.

For the current quarter ending in March, Western Digital expects its results to range from a loss of $1.70 per share to a loss of $1.40 per share. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had forecast adjusted earnings per share of $2.

The company said it expects revenue in the range of $2.6 billion to $2.8 billion for the fiscal third quarter. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected revenue of $4.76 billion.

Posted by Associated Press

Posted by Ken Martin
04:48 AM, February 01, 2023

T-Mobile, Meta headline Wednesday earnings

Another very busy morning of earnings coming up. 

We’ll hear from two major health care names – distributor Amerisource Bergen and insurer Humana.

Also watch for numbers from cellular services firm T-Mobile US and tobacco giant Altria among others. Meta Platforms will be in the spotlight after the closing bell. 

The parent of Facebook is expected to say earnings-per-share tumbled 39% from a year ago to $2.22, with revenue seen slipping 6% to $31.53 billion. 

More than one-third of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported results.

Posted by Ken Martin
04:44 AM, February 01, 2023

AMD beats revenue targets

Advanced Micro Devices shares are more than 3% higher in premarket trading after the chip maker posted revenue that beat Wall Street targets.

The company also said it expected business to improve in the second half, enthusing investors who saw the company gaining on rival Intel.

Although AMD's forecast was behind expectations, it was not as weak as some worried. 

Chief Executive Lisa Su said she was confident AMD will keep gaining market share this year and that the second half would be stronger than the first.

AMD's Data Center segment revenue grew 42% to $1.7 billion during the fourth quarter, offsetting a 51% drop in revenue of the client segment that includes PCs at $903 million.

PC shipments fell 16.5% to 292.3 million units in 2022, according to data from research firm IDC.

Adjusted fourth-quarter revenue rose 16% to $5.60 billion. Analysts on average were expecting revenue of $5.50 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

The company forecast current-quarter revenue of $5.3 billion, plus or minus $300 million. Analysts on average expected revenue of $5.48 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

Reuters contributed to this post.

Posted by Ken Martin
04:39 AM, February 01, 2023

Intel cuts some workers pay

Intel Corp has taken the next step following the release of a disappointing earnings report last week.

The chipmaker has made broad cuts to employee and executive pay.

Last week, Intel issued a lower-than-expected sales forecast driven by a loss of market share to rivals and a PC market downturn.

Posted by Ken Martin
04:34 AM, February 01, 2023

Pump price pauses at $3.50 per gallon

The price of gasoline ticked lower on Wednesday.

The nationwide price for a gallon of gasoline declined to $3.501, according to AAA.

The average price of a gallon of gasoline on Wednesday was $3.505.

A year ago, the price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.379.

One week ago, a gallon of gasoline cost $3.481. A month ago, that same gallon of gasoline cost $3.208.

Gas hit an all-time high of $5.016 on June 14.

Diesel remains below $5.00 per gallon at $4.678, but that is still a far from the $3.733 of a year ago.

Posted by Ken Martin
04:30 AM, February 01, 2023

Oil rises as recession concerns ease

Oil prices rose on Wednesday as signs of slowing inflation eased U.S. recession fears.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures traded around $79.00 a barrel.

Brent crude futures traded around $85.00 a barrel.

Both benchmarks were up for a second day, after gaining about 1% in the previous session.

All eyes will be on a meeting on Wednesday of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, known as OPEC+, where producers are  expected to keep their current output targets.

Data from the American Petroleum Institute industry group showed crude inventories rose by about 6.3 million barrels last week, according to market sources.

That was a bigger build than the 400,000 barrels that analysts polled by Reuters had expected on average.

Posted by Ken Martin
04:23 AM, February 01, 2023

Cryptocurrency prices for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin lower Wednesday morning

Bitcoin was trading around $23,000, after gaining in three of the last five days.

For the week, Bitcoin was trading more than 2% higher.

For the month, the cryptocurrency has gained more than 38%, but remains down more than 40% in the past 52 weeks.

Ethereum was trading around $1,500, after adding 2% in the past week.

Dogecoin was trading at 9 cents, after gaining more than 14% in the past week.

Posted by Ken Martin

Coverage for this event has ended.